General

According to the Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report, the latest data released by the General Administration of Customs on January 13 showed that in 2022, the total import and export value of China's goods trade exceeded 40 trillion yuan for the first time, reaching 42.07 trillion yuan, an increase of 7.7% over 2021, and the scale reached a new record, maintaining the status of the world's first trade country in goods for six consecutive years.

Interviewed experts said that in the context of the rising risk of global economic recession and the continuing slowdown in the growth of foreign demand, China's "top students" in foreign trade have overcome all difficulties and constantly created surprises, which not only become an important responsibility for the smooth operation of China's economy, but also inject confidence and momentum into the world.

Looking ahead to 2023, Lv Daliang, spokesman of the General Administration of Customs, said that China's foreign trade development still faces many difficulties and challenges. While facing up to these difficulties and challenges, we should also see that China's economy is resilient, has great potential, and is full of vitality. The fundamentals of long-term improvement remain unchanged. This year's economy is expected to rebound in general. We should be more confident in promoting the stability of the scale and structure of foreign trade.

Multiple factors play a boosting role

"On the whole, China's foreign trade achieved a new breakthrough in 2022, and the scale, quality and efficiency of imports and exports increased simultaneously. The achievements were not easy to come by." Lu Daliang said that exports continued to maintain a high growth rate, with a total amount of 23.97 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.5% year on year; Import was 18.1 trillion yuan, up 4.3% year on year, according to Huacheng's import and export data observation report.

Lv Daliang said that China's foreign trade has achieved stable growth on the basis of the high base of the previous year, making positive contributions to the steady development of the economy. Speaking of where the resilience and vitality of foreign trade came from, he said that there was a market for exports and the competitive advantage of main products was one of the main driving factors. According to the latest measurement data, China's export international market share is 14.7%, ranking first in the world for 14 consecutive years. In terms of products, electromechanical products and labor-intensive products are still the main force. Among them, the export of labor-intensive products increased by 8.9% year-on-year; The export growth rate of green and low-carbon products such as solar cells, lithium batteries, electric passenger cars and so on has exceeded 60%, and the new export momentum has grown rapidly.

Import is supported and domestic demand has great potential. According to Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation, in 2022, major economic indicators such as industrial added value and fixed asset investment above the national scale will maintain growth, providing strong support for import growth. In 2022, China's import of intermediate products increased by 7.5%, driving the overall import growth of 5.9 percentage points.

At the same time, the "circle of friends" of China's foreign trade is also constantly consolidating and expanding. In 2022, China's exports to ASEAN, the EU and other major trading partners will maintain rapid growth; The scale of imports and exports to countries along the "the Belt and Road" reached a record high, up 19.4%, accounting for 32.9% of the total foreign trade value, up 3.2 percentage points; The import and export to the other 14 member countries of RCEP increased by 7.5%, accounting for 30.8% of the total foreign trade.

The bright performance of China's foreign trade cannot be separated from the strong support of the policy. Lv Daliang said that in 2022, the country introduced a package of policies and follow-up measures to stabilize the economy, which involved in the field of foreign trade, such as ensuring smooth flow, increasing fiscal, tax and financial support, encouraging the development of new forms of foreign trade, supporting foreign trade enterprises to maintain orders and expand markets, and constantly improving trade security and convenience. With the continuous release of the effectiveness of these policies and measures, the vitality of the main body of foreign trade has been effectively stimulated. At the same time, new models and new business forms represented by cross-border e-commerce and market procurement trade have developed rapidly. According to preliminary estimates, China's cross-border e-commerce import and export will reach 2.11 trillion yuan in 2022, up 9.8%.

The import and export scale of private enterprises exceeded 50% for the first time

In the first three quarters of 2022, total imports and exports reached 3.859 billion US dollars, up 14.3% year on year; Both imports and exports to countries along the "the Belt and Road" and RCEP trading partners have achieved double-digit growth; The growth rate of import and export business throughout the year exceeded the average level of the country and Jiangsu Province, making positive contributions to stabilizing foreign trade; The quality and efficiency of the group's supply chain operation has been significantly improved, and a historic breakthrough has been achieved. The "Building a Digital Supply Chain Management and Operation Platform for Textile and Clothing" declared by the group has been successfully selected as a typical case of supply chain innovation and application by the Ministry of Commerce. In the past year, in the face of complex and severe external environment and multiple difficulties and challenges that exceed expectations, Huihong Group has adhered to the main line of learning, publicizing and implementing the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress Under the strong leadership of the provincial government, we focused on high-quality development and achieved overall stable and good business performance.

This is a microcosm of the development of China's private enterprises. In 2022, private enterprises will continue to consolidate their position as the largest body of foreign trade, and the role of "stabilizer" of foreign trade will continue to play.

Lv Daliang said that in 2022, there were 598000 foreign trade enterprises with import and export achievements in China, an increase of 5.6%. The proportion of the import and export scale of private enterprises reached 50.9%, up 2.3 percentage points, accounting for more than half of the annual proportion for the first time, and contributing 80.8% to the growth of foreign trade.

The development of private enterprises and private economy has been highly valued by the Party Central Committee and the State Council. "Last year, the state issued a package of economic stabilization policies and follow-up measures, which effectively stimulated the vitality of various market entities, including private enterprises," Lu Daliang said.

Xu Hongcai, deputy director of the Economic Policy Committee of the China Policy Science Research Association, said that the outbreak of the epidemic has affected the private economy to some extent, and it is urgent to boost the confidence of private enterprises and entrepreneurs. "At present, with the further adjustment and optimization of the epidemic prevention and control policy, private enterprises have resumed work and production, and the industrial chain channels have been unblocked. I remain hopeful of the vitality of the market economy next year, and private enterprises will play a greater role in the development of foreign trade."

Intensive policy implementation boosts confidence

"Looking ahead to this year, the foundation of China's economic recovery is not yet solid, the external environment is volatile, the downward pressure on the world economy is increasing, and China's foreign trade development is still facing many difficulties and challenges, There is solid support for promoting stable scale and optimized structure of foreign trade.

Huo Jianguo, Vice President of the China World Trade Organization Research Association, said that in the first half of this year, China's foreign trade situation may face certain pressure, and the European and American economies will be divided and subject to downward pressure, which will have an impact on China's foreign trade export orders. "However, at present, conditions conducive to China's foreign trade development are also gathering, including the gradual improvement of the external environment, China's digital trade, service trade, cross-border e-commerce, the 'the Belt and Road' and other diversified market layouts are playing a role, China's labor-intensive products, mechanical and electrical products have strong competitiveness, and the reactivation of the domestic economy and increased investment this year will be good for stabilizing foreign trade. Therefore, as long as the European and American markets are stabilized China's foreign trade will not fluctuate significantly this year. " Huo Jianguo said.

The reporter noted that a series of measures to stabilize foreign trade have been intensively implemented recently: the field of foreign trade operation and management has ushered in major reforms. Since December 30, 2022, local commercial authorities have stopped handling the registration of foreign trade operators; The Ministry of Commerce and the People's Bank of China jointly issued the Notice on Further Supporting Foreign Economic and Trade Enterprises to Expand the Cross-border Use of RMB to Facilitate Trade and Investment, and proposed 9 targeted measures; The Ministry of Commerce and other 14 departments have studied and determined the first nine pilot areas for the integration of domestic and foreign trade.

In addition, local governments have actively organized enterprises to charter flights, make appearances at exhibitions, visit customers, negotiate cooperation, and actively embrace overseas markets. At the end of the year, the foreign trade circle has become more active. From the situation of the sample foreign trade enterprises tracked and monitored by the Ministry of Commerce, there have been some positive signals, especially the situation of orders received by major export provinces has improved. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report.

With the implementation of a package of policies and measures to stabilize foreign trade, the flow of people, logistics and capital has been in an orderly turn, which not only stabilizes market expectations and enterprise confidence, but also makes us more confident that China's foreign trade will move forward steadily this year.